Watch conversations with the four Presidential Scholars for 2022–23. In its second year, the program continued to bring preeminent scholars from a wide range of disciplines to Amherst to explore diverse themes and ideas, including the afterlife of slavery in modern American society; the role that theater, race, class, and sexuality play in shaping identity in America; and new initiatives in shaping gender and identity studies in higher education. This year also featured Jason Moran’s multidisciplinary concert program, James Reese Europe and the Harlem Hellfighters: The Absence of Ruin, Moran’s response to Orlando Patterson’s concept of the “absence of ruin”—a musical monument to a vanishing African American history.
During short-term residencies, visiting scholars presented public lectures, visited classes, and met with students, faculty, and staff. Scholars were nominated by faculty and other community members and hosted by the Center for Humanistic Inquiry in partnership with the President’s Office.
Saidiya Hartman
Saidiya Hartman is a professor at Columbia University whose work explores the afterlife of slavery in modern American society.
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Hilton Als
As a staff writer and theater critic at The New Yorker, Als brings to the magazine a sharp and lyrical perspective on performance.
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Jason Moran
Pianist and composer Jason Moran has established himself as a risk taker and trendsetter for new directions in jazz performance and composition.
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Karma Chávez
Chávez has been at the forefront of fostering relationships among those who study systems of power and support local and university social justice efforts.
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